Emirates A380 to include new Saudi Arabian city

Emirates has introduced the first scheduled Airbus A380 service to Saudi Arabia’s capital city, which will be effective 21 April 2019. Riyadh will be the 51st destination to join the Emirates A380 network.

Flight EK 817/818, currently operated by a Boeing 777-300ER, will now be operated five times a week by Emirates A380.

Speaking about the introduction of the A380 to Riyadh, Adil Al Ghaith, senior vice president commercial operations Gulf, Middle East & Iran, said: “The introduction of the A380 to Riyadh also supports Saudi Vision 2030 by helping to grow the Kingdom’s aviation sector through stimulating robust traffic growth, increasing connectivity and deepening its global footprint.”

The Emirates A380 aircraft that will serve the Dubai-Riyadh route will be set in a three-class configuration, with 429 seats in economy on the main deck, 76 fully flatbed seats in business class and 14 first class private suites on the upper deck.

According to a statement from the airline, Emirates has been facilitating tourism and trade in the Kingdom for more than 30 years, developing its services to Riyadh, Jeddah, Medina and Dammam.

Today the airline serves these four gateways in the Kingdom with 84 weekly flights to Dubai and connecting travellers to key business and tourism destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.

The airline has previously deployed two one-off A380 missions to Riyadh in celebration of the Kingdom’s National Days, and displayed its A380 aircraft at the recent Saudi International Airshow 2019.